Legislative Council Granted 3 More Employees

Sen. Jerry Klein, clockwise from lower left, Sen. Brad Bekkedahl, Gov. Doug Burgum, Secretary of State Michael Howe, Rep. Don Vigesaa and Rep. Mike Lefor. listen to a presentation during an Emergency Commission meeting Sept. 9, 2024. (Mary Steurer/North Dakota Monitor)

(North Dakota Monitor) -The Emergency Commission on Monday voted to give Legislative Council the authority to hire three more employees.

In a presentation to the commission, Legislative Council Director John Bjornson said the new hires would be a communications specialist, a tax policy analyst and an energy policy analyst.

Legislative Council, the research arm of the Legislature, is already planning to ask next year’s Legislature to give the agency 25 more positions, Bjornson said, but needs immediate help to prepare for the session.

He said so far, requests for bill drafts have doubled this interim session compared to the interim leading up to the 2023 session.

“Over the weekend, I had people working 10-hour days just trying to keep up drafting — and that’s been the case for a good part of the summer,” he told the commission.

Legislative Council Director John Bjornson speaks to the Emergency Commission about the agency’s request for authority to hire three new full-time employees on Sept. 9, 2024. The request, which was approved 5-1, came at no additional cost to the state. (Mary Steurer/North Daktoa Monitor)

Bjornson said the new legislative term limits, approved by voters in 2022, will put additional strain on Legislative Council.

The constitutional amendment forbids North Dakota lawmakers from serving more than eight years in each chamber. A Legislative Council analysis found that the new amendment could cause up to 69 lawmakers to hit their term limits in 2028, and another 72 to reach the end of their terms in 2030.

With fewer veteran lawmakers serving in the statehouse, Legislative Council expects to take a more active role in training legislators.

The request for additional staff, which was approved 5-1, came at no additional cost to the state. Bjornson said the positions will be funded by money already in Legislative Council’s budget.

Gov. Doug Burgum was the only no vote of the six-member commission.

He questioned whether it would be hypocritical to allow Legislative Council to grow while at the same time expecting other agencies to cut back. Burgum in his budget proposal earlier this year instructed all executive branch agencies to downsize their operating budgets by 3%.

He was also skeptical that term limits would create much more work for Legislative Council.

“There isn’t any other agency that could have come in here today and got this approved,” he said.

There was also lengthy discussion on how the Legislature could help relieve pressure on Legislative Council without adding more employees.

The Legislative Procedures and Arrangements Committee in its July meeting discussed whether the Legislature should set limits on the number of bills lawmakers can have drafted, or no longer require every bill to have a hearing. The committee is expected to continue that discussion at its next meeting on Sept. 19, Bjornson said.

The Emergency Commission consists of Burgum, Secretary of State Michael Howe, House Majority Leader Mike Lefor, Senate Majority Leader David Hogue, Budget Section Chair Sen. Brad Bekkedahl and Budget Section Vice Chair Rep. Don Vigesaa.

Senate Assistant Majority Leader Jerry Klein on Monday sat on the commission on Hogue’s behalf.